Moon Bound

Time Out

Aiden and Killian had left the room so I could collect myself. The absence of security and privacy in this place had me careening against the walls of my mind. My life was being blown apart in a fiery explosion of absolute f*****g nonsense.

The pretty interior of the room taunted me, incessantly reminding me of my inability to do anything other than sit here and stare at the furniture while I tried to reign in my shame that was now ever present.

It had all become too much. Killian's admission at knowing what I had been dreaming about was the final straw. Not even my dreams were mine now. These men had stripped everything away from me; my family, my home, my belongings, and now they were working on stealing away my sanity.

My fingernails scraped against a loose thread in the bed spread. I gripped it between my thumb and index finger and tugged hard. It gave way with a little snap and I imagined it was the warlock's head.

A growl rose up in my throat, making my upper lip lift slightly.

Tantalizing laughter reverberated in my head. Killian's dark energy was as equally tempting as it was off-putting.

His laughter had been what tipped me over the edge that I had been precariously dangling from.

It was dark, and seductive, and mocking all rolled into one obnoxious package. When I had made him laugh, it left me feeling oddly tingly. When he laughed at me, that wasn't so cool.

Pack life must have rubbed off on me more than I was aware of. I didn't view myself as an aggressive person, yet being trapped in a house with two people that constantly kept me on the defensive was bringing my inner violence to the forefront.

That stupid smirk and that even worse laughter- I couldn't handle it any longer. I had sprung from my position on the bed, lunging for Killian's neck with the intent to rip his vocal chords out with my bare hands.

He couldn't laugh at me if he had no voice to laugh with.

That logic made my stomach turn inside out now that I had been put in time out. For a moment I had been consumed by blood thirst, and all it took to push me to that point was a little laugher. That wasn't normal. It was bordering on unhinged. But I just couldn't tolerate the laughter anymore.

I had been laughed at for as long as I could remember.

Pathetic, puny, Lyra. The weak link. They laughed at me every chance they got. I was just a joke to the rest of the pack.

And now I was a joke to my kidnappers.

Princess.

That's what Killian called me. He saw me as a delicate flower that he could easily crush beneath his steel toed boot.

Aiden gave the impression that he hated warlocks. Why was beyond me. They had quite a bit in common with wolves. They both thought they could dominate over me, laugh at me, push me around and watch me take it with a smile on my face.

They both got off on power dynamics.

I flicked the thread away in irritation.

Aiden should have let me wipe that smug grin off of Killian's face. He could barely stand him anyway. He could always hire a new warlock to guard me. Maybe one that wasn't so annoying, or so attractive.

That was the worst part. His devilish grin, his velvety voice, the patronizing laughter- it was sexy.

Shit.

Killian hadn't been wrong when he said I was frustrated.

It made me want to attack him all over again.

Aiden had caught me mid air, not even letting me get a scratch in. Although I was disappointed that I couldn't get my hands on him, Killian's startled expression was enough to give me a small sliver of satisfaction.

I could still feel Aiden's arms tensed around my waist. He had yanked me to the side and tossed me onto the bed like I weighed nothing. He then led Killian out the door, announcing over his shoulder that I needed a few minutes to cool down and that they were going to go make lunch.

I blinked up at the chandelier.

The short time apart from Aiden and Killian had helped clear my head and it made me realize that I was going feral.

Like a rogue.

Unease spread through me, turning my veins to ice. Was I really experiencing animalistic instincts? Was there really a wolf hidden deep within me, fighting to get out, and as a result I was going bananas?

New wolves needed packs. They needed structure, and guidance, and to feel like they were a part of something.

Or was I just not handling my new situation well?

I chose to believe the latter. For all I knew, bigger things were at play here.

If what Killian said was true- that I was having a deadly allergic reaction to a magical force field preventing me from being my "true self", then the newly vicious side of myself could be chalked up to magical side effects.

I stared at the chandelier for a long minute, spots dancing in my vision from the light. I lifted a hand to rub away the blurriness and thought about what my next steps should be.

Surviving- that one was obvious. If Elias was real, then there was actually a deranged wolf searching for me and that was bad news. Not that it would matter if I couldn’t make it past my death date.

Killian had said the only way to avoid it was to accept Aiden as my mate and do the… ritual. Instead of butterflies, angry hornets buzzed around in my stomach as his words repeated themselves in my head.

Blood.

Sex.

Running under a full moon.

I had never even been kissed until today. I couldn’t begin to comprehend what would come with the ritual. It sounded so savage. Is this what everyone did when they found a mate? Or was it a special circumstance just for me- because why not throw in some extra trauma into the boiling pot of f****d up soup.

I burritoed myself in the cool silk bed sheets, trying to leech any bit of comfort I could find out of it.

Maybe I should go back to worrying about the ritual and my impending doom later.

Next step.

Clothes, my phone, getting out of wherever this place was. There had to be some way to escape this nightmare. It wouldn’t be easy. If I was able to sneak past Aiden, there was still the little problem of getting past Killian.

The way wolves were able to sniff out their prey, track it, keep it in their sights- that was all pretty understandable for me. I grew up around it. But magic man out there was a whole new ball game. Aiden was able to see what I was dreaming about because of the bond. But how did Killian know? I knew for a fact Aiden didn’t tell him. It’s not like they were bros or anything and bonded over getting laid and drinking beers while watching sports games.

He also knew I had been awake. If someone should have sensed that, it should have been Aiden, yet he hadn't said a word.

The warlock had an edge, and would not be letting me go easily since Aiden was paying him to babysit me.

He claimed the only way for me to get out of this mess was to do the mating ritual, but I had a feeling he was only using that as a way to get under my skin. My short interactions with him were pretty telling. He thoroughly enjoyed making people uncomfortable.

It could be possible that there was another route, and if I wanted to get out of here in one piece and avoid the ritual, I needed to figure out what that other route was.

Sure I could just make a run for it. I could find a way to give my captors the slip. But doing that before I broke my supposed curse? Not happening. I couldn't escape while still having potential death looming over me just waiting for the perfect opportunity to exterminate me.

The sound of Aiden and Killian arguing drew my focus to the door. My eyes narrowed as their bickering got louder and then went dead silent.

Yes, Killian loved irritating people. Buzzing around them like a pestering fly. But he was also my only chance at leaving my prison still intact.

Killian.

Killian.

Killian.

His contoured face with thin smirking lips and sharp jaw flashed in my mind's eye.

Something dark simmered beneath the surface as I thought of how I could eliminate the annoying warlock.

That would have to be a step for later. Right now I needed to focus on the most pressing matters- clothes and learning what I could about breaking the ward. Then my phone, dealing with Killian, and finally- getting the hell out of dodge.

If Killian practiced magic, he had to have a space to do that. All I needed to do was find wherever that space was.

I turned my attention to the ornate dressers, and the fluffy bathrobe I was still wrapped in.

It was time to get dressed.